Unemployment Claims Public Knowledge Tennessee

[remember5]

My ex wife told me she was laid off from her job. Inside info indicates she may have been terminated. We go back to court in 8 months to review alimony. Evidently her intent is that if she is still unemployed, I will have to continue to pay the same amount of alimony. If she was discharged for misconduct I feel my case would be stronger to get the alimony reduced. Does anyone know if her unemployment claim or reason for discharge public knowledge, if not, can an attorney subpeona that information from her former employer?

[cbg]

Just as an FYI, any time an employee leaves employment that's a termination. If you quit, it's a voluntary termination. If you're fired or laid off, it's an involuntary termination.

Information regarding unemployment claims is NOT public information in the sense that you can go online and look it up. Nor does receiving or not receiving unemployment benefits guarantee anything about the cause of the termination. Employees who were let go for reasons other than misconduct have been denied UI; employees who were let go for reasons of misconduct have been granted it.

If an attorney can convince a judge to issue a subpoena I suppose it could be obtained from the employer. But barring the subpoena I wouldn't hold my breath, and quite frankly I wouldn't be holding my breath that you'll be able to convince a judge to issue the subpoena.

[rjc]

The information is certainly discoverable, however as cbg points out the problem will be getting the judge to issue the subpoena. In general, UI hearings are considered special administrative matters with little relevance in ancillary proceedings. However, she would have been subject to testimony under oath, therefore it could be considered prior recorded testimony.

If it does issue, only a family attorney experienced in divorce proceedings will likely be able to tell what, if any, significance it may provide you in your case.